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Post by Ruth on Jun 23, 2023 23:03:56 GMT
Hello to all. CJ, I keep thinking that I need to do the same with yarn as you do with fabric and that is to get it all together for a certain project in advance of making that project. I've said I few times I was going to do it but still haven't got it done. I'm glad you had enough of each color even though you don't have a lot of the colors. It's rained here for days also but not all day long and lately it's mostly been at night.Today was a little warmer.
Ginny, I hope you're doing well and will be able to get in some rest this evening. I know you've been really busy as usual.
I did crochet this morning. I finished the two sides of the front and found the perfect buttons for it in my button stash (yes I have a huge stash of buttons too) Then I made a double batch of that whole wheat dough and made dh calzones with it. The dough turned out really nice as did the calzones. I was planning on just using half for calzones and the other half for another loaf of bread but dh suggested I make it all into calzones and he'd freeze half and have them later in case summer ever actually gets here and it's too hot to bake. I also made blueberry muffins. I'll either make another loaf of the bread this evening or tomorrow. Oh I just had a thought,, I can make two loaves and take one to the neighbor.
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Post by choney2 on Jun 24, 2023 1:03:28 GMT
Back home my friends. I was in Lancaster with Jane, her sister and mom. They have the MOST incredible fabric/quilt shops. Cannot wait to get back there next year with a list of projects that I need fabric for.
I am a whole lot tired…will check in and get personal with you tomorrow.
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Post by Ruth on Jun 24, 2023 19:15:23 GMT
Ginny, I'm thankful to hear that you got home safely. I hope you were able to get rested once being home. I hope you had a good time with friends
Well Mary Maxim has all their afghan kits on sale for 25% off (some even more off) and I have the code for free shipping. There are a couple I'd love to have but realistically there's no way I can even use up the yarn I already have in my lifetime so I'll have to pass on this sale. I need to get busy and do like CJ does and make a list of what I'm going to make and get the yarn for each of those projects into my own kit. I did look through some of my yarn this morning and set more aside to donate.Let me know if you want a free shipping code.
I did make one more loaf of whole wheat bread but this time the dough didn't turn out like it did for the dough I used for calzones. I'm beginning to think that the videographer may be right on the higher temp for the liquid that the yeast goes in. I had it quite a bit hotter (and was leary) for the dough for calzones. So next loaf I'm going to try making the milk hotter and see what happens. The loaf is still good, still texture looks good and it tastes good but didn't rise like it was supposed to. It didn't get dense or anything but I'd like to have larger slices ...the size of white bread you buy in stores which I can fit two slices of spam on. My ww bread is only large enough for one slice of spam.
I hope you both are having a good day. Now I'm going to go into my craft room and look through the large box of odd's and ends of scrap yarns to see if there is any that I know I'll never use. Lots of people make scrap blankets and would love to have odds and ends. I think I need to donate my Team Spirit yarn too. I never did like it and only bought it because it was marked down twice at Walmart...once to $1 and next time to 50 cents.
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Post by choney2 on Jun 25, 2023 1:47:13 GMT
Happy Saturday… Ruth, when I have heated milk for home made bread I have had to heat if warmer than I would normally consider normal. And I know ww flour does respond differently than white flour. its SO frustrating when the loaf does not rise as you might like- and with my experience with home made bread, sometimes there is no good explanation. Hope that you find the inspiration to go through your surplus yarn and donate that which you are sure you will not use. I find it good to down size some, making more room for other crafting supplies to be better organized. CJ- that is awesome that you were able to find fabric for the rainbow scrap challenge with what you had in the house. Hope that when you get the blocks made that it’s an easy process to get the layout settled for the two quilts. Well, yes we needed rain….I wonder if the humidity has gone up in your area. I hope it’s not too warm and you can stay comfortable. Finished both baby quilts- they are wrapped and in a gift bag. I did spend a lot of time with Dd looking at quilt patterns today also fabrics. think she has it down to 2 or 3 quilts, and I told her to look at the patterns another day and see if she still feels the same. I think she has a favorite pattern.
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Post by Ruth on Jun 25, 2023 3:42:46 GMT
Ginny, the mom is going to be thrilled when she sees these quilts.How large did you make them? Are they small enough that the babies can carry them around when they get older? I hope everyone that sees them realizes how much thought, time and money is involved in making a quilt and that your effort is appreciated. So is your daughter making a quilt or is she looking for a pattern for you to use to make her one. I think you said that she quilts and may even be the person that taught you to quilt or at least got you started quilting.
Yes my bread is really good and I'm happy with the taste and texture but it could be larger.I wish now that I had used half of the dough I made the calzones with to make a loaf of bread so that I could have seen if it rose more but I'm sure I'll be making another and it will be a test loaf for using hotter milk. I keep my yeast in the fridge too so it probably needs warming up more than yeast that's been in a cupboard.And, as you said, whole wheat works differently than white although I have to confess that I've never made white bread. I've only made pumpernickle and whole wheat.
I put aside my baby sweater for a day to work on my blanket and it's all done except for the at least 48 ends to weave in. It's not all that large but I ran out of the yarn I was using. I really should have started with three colors instead of only two. At least it's a nice lap size. Sure kept me warm while working on it.
I did get the yarn together too for the blankets for two grandsons so that's a start.
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Post by choney2 on Jun 25, 2023 10:43:48 GMT
Ruth, sounds like you are using dry yeast as the cake yeast absolutely must be stored in the fridge. I normally buy yeast in a jar (both major brands sold here market small jars of yeast) which I keep in the fridge. Guess I never took into account the temperature of the yeast before adding it to a recipe. Depends upon the recipe if you predissolve the yeast in warm water or dissolve it straight in hot milk. But if the milk or water is too hot it till kill the yeast (yup I did that!). I have a book on strictly bread making - if you like I can check and see what their advice is. Bet Fleishmans yeast has a web site with great recipes and good advice.
Onto the land of crochet….48 ends is plenty to weave in. Glad that the afghan is a lap size, pleasant to work on. Congrats on getting the yarn set aside for two more afghans for your DGSs. Do you have the patterns figured out for those afghans?
Yesterday I also bent back into shape the bird feeder that the bear made a mess of. The job was not as bad as I thought it would be. The two baby quilts are approximately 45 x 60 inches. I forget…and they are wrapped so I will not re measure them.
CJ- hope your weekend is going well
Ginny
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Post by Ruth on Jun 25, 2023 16:47:39 GMT
Good morning Ginny and CJ
Ginny, it sounds like the quilt is a really nice size and is a size the children will be able to use them for years.
The yeast I use is instant yeast. It supposedly doesn't need proofing at all but I like to test it to make sure it's alive. I keep most in the freezer because I buy it by the pound. I found it first during the pandemic because stores didn't have it so got it online. I put some in a jar in the fridge and while we were gone the fridge quit working so the yeast was not refrigerated. There's not much left so I may throw the rest away and get some more out of the freezer, I haven't seen cake yeast here in our stores at all.
The grandsons I'm making these blankets for are my daughter's sons. I've made blankets for all of my son's children. I'm also going to make one for each of the granddaughters here. The one that needs ends woven is one of those. I have only 4 left to make for girls then those two for the boys. DD and her dh get one that's for both of them.I do have patterns in mind (don't know why the type is suddenly slanted)
tomorrow is my dh's injection so another couple hours of waiting room crocheting. I'll get some things together for that today.
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Post by choney2 on Jun 25, 2023 19:44:33 GMT
Love how you ONLY have 4 afghans for the girls and two for the boys. Somehow making 6 afghans sounds like Mount Everest to me.. I know the jars and packets of yeast do have an expiration date, but I have never kept it in the freezer. Normally, I do not see much cake yeast, but then I do not use it much either. Years ago I made a whole lot more baked goods with yeast, used to make my own bread and sweet rolls a lot.
The baby shower is over and done with- and my church really came out strong for the family. My church is small to medium sized but very caring….the father of the little ones was so overwhelmed by the gifts and lunch (which was adequate and pleasant) that he left the room and cried (he admitted to me later).
CJ- hope you are able to stay comfortable. It’s very humid here although not that warm.
Guess it’s time to move onto the tshirt quilt to get that closer to being finished. Ginny
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Post by cj59 on Jun 25, 2023 20:07:47 GMT
Hello Ruth - I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the bread, hope the next batch is good too. I also hope your DH's injection goes well tomorrow. Sounds like you have several projects lined up to work on. Ginny - Your quilts are beautiful, I'm sure they will be loved. How wonderful to know that the baby's father was so thankful for all the gifts. Hope you are able to put out some birdseed now that the feeder is fixed. It is hot here, high 80s, but I have all the blinds and curtains closed so I'm doing alright with just the fan downstairs so far. I wish I didn't have to get out the portable AC at all, so I'm waiting as long as I can. We have storms projected almost every day for a week, and I can't run the portable AC when it's raining so I figure I might as well wait. I do run my window AC in my bedroom so that makes it comfortable for sleeping. This morning I cut the larger pieces of fabric for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks - there are 15 different blocks to make. I need to starch and press all the fabric and then cut it, hopefully I'll get to that next. Hope you are enjoying your day
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Post by choney2 on Jun 25, 2023 22:34:56 GMT
CJ- so glad to learn that you are staying comfortable despite the heat and humidity. From what I am seeing your humidity is much less than mine which helps explain how you can keep your wits about you and not want the AC on. Glad you have it on in your bedroom, which is probably warmer than the rest of the house.I got back from church and made sure the AC was on, but my humidity is in the high 80 percentile. Glad to hear that you have cute out the larger pieces for the rainbow scrap challenge. Its a lot of work to starch and press all the fabrics, simply amazing how quickly you can go through best press. That reminds me my next step for the tshirt quilt is to press the flannel backing fabric and then start making the quilt sandwich.
Got a short walk in. With the humidity, I was not up for anymore than a short walk.
Guess its time to press the flannel
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Post by Ruth on Jun 25, 2023 23:10:40 GMT
Thank you, CJ for the good wishes for my dh's injection.I know he's nervous about it. I'm glad you got your fabrics ready. Ironing is not the most enjoyable thing to do in the summer.
Ginny, I used to use packets or the little jars of yeast and I never thought to keep them in the refrigerator. I've used some quite a long time after their exp date and they were always good. I used regular granulated yeast like Fleishman's or Red Star but in the pandemic neither was available so when I bought the large bags of yeast I knew I had to keep them in the freezer and fridge.
I think it got a bit warmer here today. We still have snow on the mountain behind our house. Not a lot but there is still some there in the crevices.
I did get all my ends woven in so since I was in weaving in mode I wove in the ones I had so far in the sweater. I'm working on the first sleeve and, of course they're small, so they won't take long. Then a little ribbing on those and it's done. I want to make another baby blanket, a couple pairs of booties and maybe one more bonnet which I will work on off and on with the adult blanket. Oh and just found out dgd in Indiana wants me to make her another blanket. She sent me a picture and it's a very simple one. She could actually make one herself but since I'm Grandma i'll make it for her but not until the others are done. I've already make her one.
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